“If we do not do the impossible, we shall be faced with the unthinkable”, Murray Bookchin (‘The Ecology of Freedom’, 1982)
Do you want to know more about him and his ideas? Support our documentary Bookchin on Bookchin on Indiegogo
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Another reviewer, Viktors Dabolins has written a review in Latvian about Philip Ruff’s book, Pa Stāvu Liesmu Debesīs – translated into English as On A Towering Flame To Heaven.
An English translation is soon to come, but click here to read the full review in Latvian
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In September 2012, Mr. Mitchell, Chief Whip said to a policeman:
“Best you learn your fucking place…you don’t run this fucking government…You’re fucking plebs”.
Wobbling off on his bicycle he called over his shoulder.
“you haven’t heard the last of this”
From official Downing Street police log.
In June 1381, King Richard II retorted to villagers:
“You wretches are detestable both on land and on sea. You seek equality with the lords, but you are unworthy to live. Give this message to your fellows: rustics you are, and rustics you will always be. You will remain in bondage, not as before, but incomparably harsher. For as long as we live we will strive to suppress you, and your misery will be an example to posterity”
As described by one contemporary chronicle.
Nothing has changed in seven centuries.
Interested in what happened in 1381 and its consequences nowadays? Check out our documentary Despite the Poll Tax:
If questioned at all in the media most of the discourse about the inequities of poll tax concentrated on its economic injustices. Despite the Poll Tax however dug deeper into the largely ignored social and civil liberties implications of a colonial tax system whose earlier versions were considered unacceptable in the middle ages, leading to the Peasants Revolt of 1381 and were the original basis of the Pass Laws of apartheid South Africa.
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The term, New Metropolitan Mainstream, brings together different processes leading towards an increasing economization of urban life: gentrification, urban regeneration, forced upgrading of neighbourhoods, luxury transformation of entire inner city areas, privatisation of public goods and spaces, instrumentalisation of flagship projects and international events in order to attract international investments and people with a high income.
Was the financial crisis the end of the New Metrolitan Mainstream? It seems it was, at least for the investment in prestigious cultural flagship projects in the US.
A study of the Cultural Policy Center, University of Chicago found out: 80% of new or refurbished buildings of the period 1994-2008 were a product of completely wrong calculation. Some museums had to close down only a few years after their opening. Many concert halls and theatres have huge problems surviving. The “Bilbao” Effect did not take place. And the amount of new buildings in the cultural sector is far beyond new hospitals or educational institutions.
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The influx of tourists to the city for the 2012 London Olympic Games had caused excitement among businesses all over London, yet statistics show that during the Olympic period, UK retail sales fell and online sales plunged the most in five years.
Shoppers – both online and on the high street – were said to be distracted by the Olympic Games, causing an unanticipated drop in sales. Economists predict further falls in UK retail sales due to inflation and weak consumer confidence.
For more details, read the article on the Bloomberg website
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Spectacle’s Mark Saunders will be discussing East London and the commodification of local culture at reART in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday 26th Oct.
reART:theURBAN is an international conference that will revolve around the question of what art can do for the development of the urban society and the city itself. The conference takes place from the 25th-27th October this year, with talks from a number of international speakers, including Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Zizek and Charles Landry, an urban thinker from the UK.
To find out more about the conference, go to the reART website and for more about Mark’s talk, click here
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Buro Happold have joined the team behind the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station.
The consultants have been involved in some of London’s most iconic buildings and structures in recent years, including work on the Millennium Dome, The Great Court at the British Musuem, and The Globe Theatre.
The group was also part of the consortium which designed and constructed the Olympic Stadium, so large-scale, high-publicity projects are very much their field.
Buro Happold principal Justin Phillips said “We are truly delighted to have been appointed to the Battersea Power Station development… We look forward to dramatically changing this significant part of central London, all within a mile of Westminster.”
Questions are still being raised over the longevity of this project, and whether or not the chimneys will be rebuilt after the owners have insisted on bringing them down in the name of ‘safety’.
The consultation held last week at Battersea Power Station outlined the plans, and showed thousands of flats to be squeezed into the small spaces around the power station.
The Battersea Power Station Community Group have raised numerous issues around these plans, a video will follow…
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Battersea Power Station is the focus of other people’s work as well as ours; one notable example of this is Kevin Murphy, director of the 2004 film ‘Battersea: Its Past, Its Future’.
Kevin has been featured on IPINglobal discussing the history and potential future of Battersea Power Station. His personal connection to the building is something that resonates with many locals, as are his thoughts on the disrepair it has callously fallen into in the years since its decommission.
As a youngster traveling in and out of Victoria Station I was always amazed at the sight of the Battersea Power Station every time I passed by. Famous for not only its unique architecture it has also become a popular landmark with the help of movies and popular music, most notably on the cover art of Pink Floyds concept album ‘Animals’. I never thought that one day I would be creating film documentaries regarding its present condition and future…
To read the full article, click here.
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Tino Buchholz has released his film – Creative Capitalist City – online for free distribution. The film covers issues of urban regeneration and housing issues in modern Western society.
After a year of DVD distribution and events in Amsterdam, Hamburg, London,
Athens, Vienna and Zurich, Bucholz has annonced the film online with a number of different subtitles.
Visit the website – www.creativecapitalistcity.org – for more information.
Synopsis: This film is more than a local documentary on Amsterdam. It
explores the latest urban re-/development pattern in advanced Western
capitalist cities. The hype around the creative city began already a
decade ago, it is global in scope and about to reach its peak. After
Richard Florida’s influential book “The Rise of the Creative Class” (2002)
creativity has advanced to be the role model of urban regeneration: The
New American Dream. What is new about this dream? What happens when the
hype is over? Housing as a job or the Right to the City”?
For interviews with Anti-Squat company managers and their tenants visit our archive here.
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